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Effect of mediolateral gap difference on postoperative outcomes in navigation-assisted total knee arthroplasty using an ultracongruent insert and the medial stabilising technique

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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

This study was aimed to compare the clinical, functional, and radiographic outcomes between symmetric and asymmetric extension and mediolateral gap balance after navigation-assisted (NA) total knee arthroplasty (TKA) using ultracongruent (UC) insets and the medial stabilising technique (MST).

Methods

In all, 363 knees of 275 patients who underwent mechanical alignment-target NA TKA with MST between January 2015 and December 2017 were analysed. Patients were divided into balanced (extension mediolateral gap difference ≤ 2 mm) and tight medial (difference ≥ 3 mm) groups. Pre- and postoperative clinical, functional (range of motion, Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis [WOMAC] index, Knee Society Knee Score [KSKS], and Knee Society Function Score [KSFS]) and radiographic (hip–knee–ankle [HKA] angle, femoral condylar offset, extension angle [a minus indicates hyperextension], and joint line distance) outcomes were compared between the groups. Student’s t- or Chi-squared test was used to compare the outcomes.

Results

Among the 363 knees analysed, 279 (77%) were assigned to the balanced group and 84 (23%) to the tight medial group. The preoperative HKA angle was significantly greater in the tight medial group than in the balanced group (9.7° ± 4.1° vs 14.3° ± 4.7°, P < 0.001). The postoperative WOMAC index, KSKS, and KSFS were similar between the groups. The change in the joint line distance was not significantly different (1.5 ± 3.7 vs 2.0 ± 3.3; n.s).

Conclusion

The clinical, functional, and radiographic outcomes, including joint line distance, were comparable between the tight medial and balanced group after mechanical alignment-targeted UC TKA with MST.

Level of evidence

Level III, retrospective comparative study.

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Data availability statement

The data that support the finding of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ilsan Paik Hospital, Inje University School of Medicine, Goyangsi, Gyeonggido, Korea

    Sung-Sahn Lee

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Ilwon Street, Gangnam-Gu, Seoul, 06351, Korea

    Jeounghun Lee & Young-Wan Moon

  3. Arthroplasty Division, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia

    Hail Alharthi

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  1. Sung-Sahn Lee
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  2. Jeounghun Lee
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  4. Young-Wan Moon
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Correspondence to Young-Wan Moon.

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Ethical approval

The protocol used to evaluate radiographic findings and intraoperative navigation data was approved by our institution’s investigational review board (SMC2022-11-045).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Lee, SS., Lee, J., Alharthi, H. et al. Effect of mediolateral gap difference on postoperative outcomes in navigation-assisted total knee arthroplasty using an ultracongruent insert and the medial stabilising technique. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 31, 3745–3754 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-023-07324-z

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